1. Field of the Application
The present application relates generally to a walking aid or other human-powered locomotion and stabilization aid having an illumination source. The walking aid may be used by individuals in recreational activities, as well as by physically challenged individuals engaged in their daily activities. The illuminated walking aid may facilitate moving more safely from one place to another where an individual or group would benefit from seeing the floor, ground, or other surface more clearly, or by being seen more easily by others.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recreational hiking poles and ski poles assist hikers, skiers, skaters, mountain climbers, and search and rescue teams when they need to stabilize themselves and their footing while engaged in such activities. Canes, walkers, crutches, and walking carts similarly provide physically challenged persons and people with physical disabilities with needed stability when moving from one place to another. The value of canes, walkers, hiking poles and similar devices in assisting individuals desiring greater stability correlates directly with how well the ends or tips of the poles, canes, etc. connect with the ground to achieve the desired and required weight-bearing traction and support. When compromised or deficient lighting or visibility conditions exist, whether outside in twilight, at night, or in overcast, rainy or snowy conditions, or when inside where lighting conditions may be poor, it is more difficult to ensure the necessary stable footing from the placement of the walking aid pole or cane base to achieve the required or desired safe traction and load-bearing stability.
Some prior art walking aids have illumination sources designed into the handles of walking sticks which, by their nature, are not capable of supporting the loads that hikers, backpackers, and skiers put on the handles of poles used for these purposes. These designs are also not capable of supporting the requirement to reach above a user's head for proper placement of, for example, a pole tip when climbing or below the user's waist when pushing off and stepping up or skiing down an incline.
Further, prior art walking aids do not provide circumferential lighting to illuminate areas to the sides of and behind the canes or hiking poles. Since these prior devices do not provide illumination to the sides and behind where a walking, hiking, or skiing aid might be placed, they are not suitable for moving over the uneven terrain commonly encountered when hiking, climbing or skiing. Without such illumination, these walking aids do not allow users to accurately place the pole tips where they will provide the required stability and traction, nor do they provide for proper foot placement, making them ill-suited for the purposes described above.
These as well as other aspects and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that the embodiments described in this summary and elsewhere are intended to illustrate the invention by way of example only.